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THE 



PHILOSOPHY 



SPECIAL PROVIDENCES 



A VISION 



ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 



AUTHOR OF 



"Nature's Divine Revelations," "The Great Harmonia,' 
"Arabula," "The Temple," etc., etc. 



REVISED, RESTEREOTYPED, AND ENLARGED. 






v .aqkfis : 



Qv* - 



BOSTON: • 
WILLIAM WHITE AND COMPANY, 

158 WASHINGTON STRTCET. 

NEW YORK: 

BANNER OF LIGHT BRANCH OFFICE. 544 BROxlDWAT. 

1872. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, 

BY ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Stereotyped at the 

"WOMEN'S PRINTING- TIOUSE, 

Corner Arenne A and Eighth Street, 

New York. 



PEEFACE. 

I 

If the reader will but imagine himself to be ad- 
dressed by Truth, as my Guide addressed me, he may 
receive much good, and many suggestions, by carefully 
examining the following pages. They contain two 
Visions, and an Argument. 

The first vision placed me in that moral and intel- 
lectual position which the professed believers in super- 
natural miracles and special providences generally 
occupy, — that is, it made me see with the eyes and 
through the opinions of those who base their faith and 
hope upon superficial perception and human testimony. 
The second vision enabled me to examine the seeming 
miracles and special providences, which are recorded 
in the Bible and elsewhere, through the pure mediums 
of ^Nature and Reason. But the argument is addressed 
to the Understanding. 

An honest, unprejudiced, impartial state of mind 
is absolutely indispensable to a proper perception and 
comprehension of divine Truth. In this mental con- 
dition, and in no other, it is good to commence and 
pursue the present inquiry. 

THE AUTHOR. 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES 1 



'This interesting and important interrogatory revives 
in my soul a multitude of the most impressive medita- 
tions — visions so solemn and gorgeous as to revolutionize 
the deepest feelings, and expand the best conceptions to 
limits undefinable. The impression was too perfectly 
and forcibly imparted for me to ever disremember the 
time when I was made to realize what the majority of 
the world (especially the Christian world) believe con- 
cerning Divine interposition. My mind had been exer- 
cised many days upon the subject under consideration. 
The world-wide interesting problem, Whether there had 
been, or were now, supernatural interpositions among 
men, for the purpose of changing, reversing, or regu- 
lating human affairs and designs, was agitating my 
spirit almost continually ; and I well remember the cir- 
cumstances which attended its final examination and 
settlement. And let me here express — what I cannot 
but feel — the wish that every inquiring mind could be 
enriched with a similar revelation. I know, to the 



6 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

depths of ray soul, that it would emancipate the individ- 
ual from the slavery of ignorance, superstition, and big- 
otry. 

It was the last day of the beautiful month of June 
when I received an authoritative impression, from the 
interior life, to ascend the summit of a high but famil- 
iar mountain. My native village (by adoption) was vis- 
ible at a distance on the opposite side of the river. 
This mountain was my usual retreat ; nothing was there 
to disturb — but all outer things, the solitude, the still- 
ness only broken by the song of birds, and the scenery, 
were conducive to spiritual development, elevation, and 
vision. Upon this mount, and at this time, my spirit, 
in its accustomed manner, was enabled to subdue and 
subordinate the body to itself, and my interior principles 
of perception were opened, and were permitted their 
easy and natural exercise. The problem to be solved 
was resting heavily upon me ; and that innumerably di- 
versified and mountain-high accumulation of individual 
biographies — unphilosophically termed personal and 
national history — were presented as the materials by 
which I was to be made to realize the general belief in 
a partial Providence, and the influence of such doc- 
trine. 

I saw the wide-spread Earth, its entire surface ! It 
is easy to converse about the Earth, its dimensions, its 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES 5 7 

scenery, and possessions — but it is not easy to grasp a 
realizing conception of its magnitude and appearance. 
When the mind beholds at a glance a conglobated ac- 
cumulation of matter, twenty-five thousand miles in cir- 
cumference ; and, instead of a single great city densely 
inhabited, nine hundred millions of living human indi- 
viduals; I say when the mind beholds all this over- 
whelming combination of spirit and matter, the little 
material and space it itself requires as one individual, 
is enough to beget conceptions of its own weakness and 
insignificance. 

When this view was given me, I ceased wondering 
that the inhabitants of original Central America once 
believed their local habitation to be the centre of the 
universe, and themselves the favorites of presiding gods. 
Yes, I ceased wondering at, or blaming any people, or 
nation, for believing the Earth to be the masterpiece of 
divine creation, and themselves under the special 'and 
immediate control of various divinities. 

Down, down the rugged declivities and towering pyra- 
mids of Humanity's History were my interior percep- 
tions directed ; and I beheld the many and different 
events and circumstances which were and are referred 
to the supernatural or miraculous interpositions of an 
invisible but especially overseeing Providence. 

I saw approach, even to the margin of an awful preci- 



8 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

pice, a man whose mind had been, for many years, de- 
ranged ; he fell over the brink, and was arrested, by some 
imperceptible canse, on his downward way ; rescued, by 
his affrighted friends from this perilous situation, he 
was found to be unhurt ; and from that hour, hence- 
forth, he was sane and well. The wise men and sooth- 
sayers of the city pronounced his escape " an instance 
of the special interference of the Lord." 

I saw, situated upon the side of the sea, a beautiful 
village, whose people were accomplished in the science 
of agriculture. The sky blackened, the earth trembled, 
the ground opened, and several villages, and two opu- 
lent cities, were shaken and sundered into pieces ; but 
the beautiful village remained wholly unmoved and un- 
changed. The priests said, " It was a manifestation of 
the judgment and justice of the great Jehovah." 

I saw, standing before a splendid tribunal of Knights 
Templars, a female, clad in the garments of condemna- 
tion and death ; she was tried for sedition and conspir- 
acy ; the judgment was rendered against her ; and she 
was harshly conveyed to the Inquisitorial Hall for exe- 
cution ; the executioner placed her head upon the block, 
uplifted the sword — and, lo! the terrific lightning 
struck him to the earth : the temple was set on fire, and 
scarce a person escaped unhurt except the falsely con- 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES 5, V 

victed female, who was thus saved. The people said, 
" It was the judgment and interposition of Jehovah? 

I saw a great and spiritually enlightened Reformer, 
Jesus, condemned for heresy, and for rebelling against 
the prevailing opinions and institutions of his age and 
country ; the cross was erected, his body was nailed to 
it ; the conquerors rejoiced in their supposed victory ; 
and his few friends and disciples were convulsed with 
grief. The blackened heavens frowned upon the deed ; 
the voice of the thunders was heard ; the city was in- 
gulfed in darkness ; the bursting earthquake rent the 
temple from its towering heights even to its founda- 
tion ; the rocks opened their yawning mouths ; and con- 
sternation was great and universal among the people. 
The followers and disciples of the martyr, young and 
old, male and female, said, " It was the disapproval of 
the omnipotent God." 

I saw, giving in his oath falsely, a man, Ananias, who 
had disposed of some property for more money than he 
claimed to have received therefor; and while vehe- 
mently affirming, upon his honor, and all sacred things, 
that he had not done what, in truth, he did do, his lips 
trembled, his eyes started wildly from their sockets, and 
he fell dead, in the presence of his questioners — a per- 
jured and self -condemned man. The public voice said, 



10 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PKOVIDENCES. 

" It was a direct and immediate manifestation of the 
judgment of God." 

I saw an abused and long-enslaved people, marshalled 
together according to the directions of an educated 
chieftain (Moses), leave an Egyptian city, and cross, on 
comparatively dry land, a river which was parted in an 
extraordinary manner ; the enslaver, Pharaoh, and his 
army, pursued this adventurous band, with the unright- 
eous design of recapturing them ; he led his armed 
hosts upon the dry land at the division of the waters, 
but the waves instantaneously embraced each other, and 
the king and his splendid army were as suddenly over- 
whelmed and destroyed. The victorious multitude, 
thus escaped from slavery, and from a grave in the bo- 
som of the mighty tide, said, " The Lord had exercised 
special judgment and justice in the earth." 

I saw, attired in the habiliments of wealth, and resid- 
ing in a costly mansion, an individual afflicted with di- 
vers and painful diseases ; disturbed slumbers, sleepless 
nights, horrid dreams, frightful pains and palpitations, 
headache, and suicidal melancholy : these were some 
of the afflictions. Physicians could do no good, nor did 
the sympathizers or prayers in churches relieve the pain ; 
and the sufferer died. The people gathered in the 
chapel, and the officiating clergyman, after administer- 
ing to the friends of the deceased the consolations of 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES ? 11 

the Gospel, deplored this signal visitation of that Provi- 
dence whose " ways are mysterious and past finding out." 

I saw a beautiful and marvellously precocious infant, 
the final response to earnest prayers sent up to God, and 
the idol of its parents, die in its mother's arms ; tears 
were shed, and lamentations were heard, occasioned by 
the imexpected removal of this priceless jewel ; the vil- 
lage bell tolled the solemn knell, the mourners knelt in 
the chapel, and the priest said to the bereaved parents, 
" Providence gives and takes away." 

I saw, on the holy Sabbath, sailing in a pleasure-boat, 
with other youths, a boy of some fourteen years. His 
parents, especially his mother, had admonished him re- 
peatedly, on the morning of that day, against the dan- 
gers of breaking the Sabbath ; but, instead of heeding 
their counsel or obeying their commands, he gathered 
about him associates, and sought pleasure on the water. 
A storm arose ; it increased and raged violently ; the 
boat was far from shore ; the sails were rent in twain ; 
the slight vessel was thrown upon its side ; the disobe- 
dient son was suddenly plunged into the river, and ere 
assistance could reach him, was drowned. The parents, 
the minister, and the people, said, u It was a striking re- 
buke and dispensation of Providence." 

I saw the only and much-beloved daughter of wealthy 
parents, prostrated upon a bed, suffering the intensest 



12 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

agony ; she was weeping, beseeching, praying for relief ; 
physicians came, and learned consultations were held ; 
but, though thus cared for, thus loved — and though hers 
was the flowering springtime of human life — she suf- 
fered and died. The clergyman sought to soothe the 
broken-hearted parents by saying, that, " Though he 
was not in possession of those evidences of her recon- 
ciliation vrith God, which he hoped other young friends 
in his congregation, being warned by this early death, 
might furnish him, yet he felt assured that Providence 
had acted wisely in removing that young spirit from 
earthly dangers and temptations." 

I saw wide-spread pestilences — epidemics — infectious 
diseases — famines — wars and national invasions. I saw 
cities ravaged by fire, and destroyed by earthquakes ; 
and all of these afflictions, personal and national, were 
referred to special dispensations of Providence. Ear- 
nest and wordy prayers were uttered by clergymen and 
their congregations ; the devout sent up their orisons to 
God for " the widow and the fatherless in their afflic- 
tion " — for the mariner on the uncertain ocean — for the 
coming harvest — for the officers of church and state ; 
and I beheld that the widow and the fatherless were 
mainly preserved from absolute destitution; that the 
mariner escaped from the destroying power of storms ; 
that the harvests gave forth their increase, and yielded 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES ? 13 

abundantly ; that official duties were discharged : I saw 
all this ; and was thus made to realize the force of that 
belief which makes God to preside over the wondrous 
earth, direct the lightnings, pour out the rain, and hold 
the winds in the hollow of his hand ; and to especially 
and locally bestow blessings or curses on human souls, 
designs, and deeds. And it was given me to perceive 
that all these things, thus progressively presented to my 
understanding, were representations of numerous and 
similar events and personal experiences which had oc- 
curred in the past, and were occurring at present, in the 
world. And thus I saw how universal was the practice 
or habit of referring extraordinary human events and 
circumstances to the special interpositions of Provi- 
dence or God. 

The Scene was vast, and the Vision wonderful ! my 
soul was made to draw in, and appropriate to itself, a, 
so universal belief, the exemplifications of which were 
thus presented, and I experienced the legitimate influ- 
ence of such a profoundly sacred conviction. And this 
result seemed to be the object for which the vision was 
given me. And now the mighty earth, with its inhabi- 
tants and their multifarious convictions, receded from 
my view ; my spiritual perceptions were closed, and, in 
a few minutes, I was restored to my ordinary state. I 
could see nothing but myself, the mountain, the river, 



14 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

and the distant village. My memory was almost sub- 
merged with the wonders of my vision, the spirit of 
which had passed into my mind, and I experienced a 
greater attraction than ever before experienced towards 
mankind, their religious opinions, and the earth. I could 
not think of any vaster creation than an orb of twenty- 
five thousand miles in circumference, and peopled with 
nine hundred millions of separate and dissimilar indi- 
vidualities. It seemed no longer strange nor to be ques- 
tioned why the Deity should concentrate his works thus ; 
why his Son should have left his native home, to ac- 
complish great and mighty works upon the earth ; why 
prayers were necessary and efficacious ; and why espe- 
cial visitations of Divine judgment and justice, ven- 
geance and disapprobation, were received and believed 
in, by the more advanced multitudes of the wondrously 
mighty earth. I could understand, and perfectly sym- 
pathize with, those dictatorial passages in the prayer re- 
commended by Jesus, " GrvE us this day our daily 
bread," — " Forgtve us our trespasses," — " Lead us not 
into temptation," — " Deliver us from evil." Yes, I 
could comprehend the conviction that it is proper to in- 
form God what we want, and to imploringly command 
him thus to gratify our individual desires. I could un- 
derstand that, though the Deity is perpetually observiug 
nine hundred millions of different souls, he cannot 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 15 

comprehend, at the same moment, their diversity of de- 
sires, unless verbally or orally informed of them; and 
that he would respond according to the righteousness of 
the individual petitioning. In a word — I had observed 
instances of (so-called) Providential interference, and 
viewing them, together with all material creations on the 
earth, in an external and superficial light, just as the 
majority of enlightened classes view them, I was fully 
persuaded of their truth, and consequently the legiti- 
mate influence of such a conviction was impressed upon 
my mind. 

On returning from the mount to my home, I well 
remember the conflicting sensations which were de- 
veloped in me by the vision. I knew what it was to 
fear God — I knew what it was to tremble before, and 
shrink from, a Being who, I was persuaded, could be 
influenced to exhibitions of approbation or terrible dis- 
pleasure by individual prayers and transactions. I felt 
that I did not know what village might next be con- 
sumed by fire, or what city destroyed by earthquake. I 
could not imagine what manifestations of supernatural 
interposition were to be next developed. When I 
walked upon the hills, my soul was not perfectly sure 
that they would not fall upon and crush me ; or when a 
comet was announced by astronomers to be approaching 
our sun or earth, I was not confident that it would not, 



16 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

according to Divine intention, strike us into the oblivi- 
ous depths of chaos. I had no assurance of safety any- 
where. If in the village, I was not sure but the Deity, 
because of the many and frequent transgressions of its 
inhabitants, was contemplating, at that moment, its total 
annihilation. If on steamboats, or railroads, or where 
dark storms gathered over my head, I knew not but 
some vengeance was impending — some fearful crash, or 
thunderbolt about to fall. If where pestilential diseases 
environed, I was not sure but that destruction awaited 
the whole community, because of its corruption and 
wickedness. And now it was easy to believe in the 
chimeras of Millerism — it was possible to believe that 
this great mass of matter, twenty-five thousand m,iles in 
circumference, was to be literally dissolved and con- 
sumed by fire — that millions would be crushed by fall- 
ing mountains, and millions would ascend, through roofs 
and any material obstructions, to meet the Lord in the 
air. Yes, I w&§, for five days, in the secrets of my own 
heart, a forced believer in such literal manifestations of 
Divine intention. I was ready for, and would not have 
been surprised to hear, the thundering sound of that 
awful trumpet which was to awake millions to everlast- 
ing happiness, and millions to endless misery ! 

In truth, this universal conflagration of Nature was 
now not so much a source of surprise to me, as was the 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 17 

apparent indifference, manifested by the greater portion 
of mankind, with regard to this impending event, in 
connection with the received opinion of the susceptibility 
of God to be influenced by human action and prayer. 
All acknowledge that " the prayers of the righteous are 
answered ; " but why human actions did not correspond 
to (what seemed to me to be) the most awful and terrific 
convictions possible to conceive of, was a profound mys- 
tery. Clergymen and laymen recognized this belief in 
their theology; but their practices were so divorced 
from their theories and professed belief, that I could 
not resist the impression that their actions gave the lie 
to their convictions. 

It was now just six days since the foregoing change 
had been wrought in my mind ; and my countenance, 
the index of the spirit, showed the withering effects of 
such convictions. I walked the pathless meadows in 
the vicinity of the village, and meditated upon the 
awful but sublime disclosures made to me on the 
mountain's summit. I contemplated the ways of God 
— what he had done for mankind ; how he had been, 
and was continually, importuned, invoked, commanded. 
Again and again I thought of the nine hundred millions 
of inhabitants ; and how national and personal individu- 
ality had been marvellously preserved in the midst of the 
ten thousand surrounding and absorbing influences ; and 



18 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

how myriads and myriads had appeared upon the stage 
of the world's vast theatre, acted some particular part 
in the universal drama or tragedy of life, then made 
their exit, to live and act, upon another stage, an eternal 
repetition of good or evil. And theu I contemplated 
poverty, destitution, and crime — how well do I remem- 
ber this soul-chilling contemplation ! 

Now the day was drawing to a close, and the sun was 
setting gloriously in the west — Nature seemed to smile, 
and to pantomime the indications of joy. I had wan- 
dered to a retired spot, and had seated myself beneath 
the clustering foliage of some luxuriant trees, and there 
the local development of previous conflicts and disturb- 
ances came forth from my soul in the form of interro- 
gatories, and an invocation to God, whom, with every 
faculty fatigued and subdued, I thus addressed: Our 
Father who art in heaven (for thus I am told to address 
thee), who hearkeneth to the prayers of thy children, and 
who answereth the solicitations of the righteous ; I be- 
seech thee grant me audience. Justified by the exam- 
ple of those of the earth's inhabitants who claim to be 
thy children, and keepers of thy commandments, I pre- 
sume to remind thee of many things which I think 
should be done, not to augment my interests, but the 
happiness of thy universal family, Mankind. In the 
first place, I earnestly desire to inform thee that I am 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 19 

perfectly aware of thy omnipotent power, and of thy 
disposition and habit of exercising the same at will. I 
gaze upon the greatness of earth, upon its mighty 
waters, upon the glorious sun, upon the bright stars 
with which thou hast written on the skies ; I look upon 
thy wide-spread family, and dare to call myself also one 
of thine ; and I behold everywhere wonderful displays 
of thy power and disposition to create and make alive. 
But from that combination of books which thy professed 
followers call the Holy Bible, I learn that thou residest 
in heaven, and yet that thou art a jealous, avenging, and 
revengeful God ; and from those pages I also learn that 
thou art a perfect Being — infinite in Power, in Good- 
ness, in Justice, in Mercy, and in Truth ; and that thou 
art Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Omnipresent. Pardon 
me then, I pray thee, O Father, if I venture to ask — 
why, being all goodness and all powerful, thou permit- 
test Want, consequently Crime, and consequently Mis- 
ery ? Why permittest thou War, Murder, Papine, and 
Licentiousness ? Why, O Father ! if thou art disposed 
to render universal justice, why permittest thou the 
strong and powerful to enslave the weak and helpless, 
and thus to mar the form of humanity with prostitution 
and slavery ? If thou art special and local in thy provi- 
dences and regulations, O why art thou silent, and ap- 
parently impotent, when the lightning rushes impetu- 



20 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

ously through the heavens, and, in its darting from 
place to place, destroys buildings (perhaps the poor 
man's only shelter), and human life, and the beasts of 
the fields? Why permittest thou destructive catastro- 
phes, Famine, Disease, Sin, Death, and Everlasting 
Destruction \ If thou art all good and powerful, O 
Father, why didst thou create me with attributes of jus- 
tice, and capabilities of happiness, the very conscious- 
ness of which causes me to thank thee for my existence, 
and yet make me so unlike thyself, as thy character is 
revealed in thy partial government, and in the Book 
worshipped as thy word, that my instincts of benevo- 
lence are violated by thy, so called, special providences, 
and my conceptions of the principles of distributive 
goodness and equity, wounded by the manifestations of 
thy, so-styled, justice. And, O Father ! if the combina- 
tion of books, written by different authors, who enter- 
tained dissimilar views of thee, and of thy government 
— one proclaiming thee to be " a jealous God," another 
declaring that thou art a " God of love ; " one exacting 
vengeance — " an eye for an eye " — the other teaching 
forgiveness, and " Love ye one another " — Father, if 
this book be thy True Word, why are not a greater 
number of the nine hundred millions of the earth's in- 
habitants more acquainted with it, and obeying its com- 
mandments ? and, even among those few who acknowl- 






ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 21 

edge it to be thy word, why permittest thou so much 
dissension and protestation ? 

Thy children ask thee for thy approbation and favors, 
O Father ! as if thou wert not omniscient, as they teach 
teach me thou art ; following, therefore, the example 
of these, named reverend teachers of righteousness, and 
of thy so-called only Son, I pray thee to confer upon 
humanity, forthwith, the ability to behold Benevolence 
in thy benevolence, Justice in thy justice, Goodness in 
thy goodness, and truth in thy word, wheresoever that 
word may be found. I pray thee to remove Pov- 
erty, to remove Crime, to remove Misery. I pray thee 
not to manifest thy attributes of Jealousy and Ven- 
geance upon thy defenceless and dependent children, 
because such visitations will not improve the wicked, 
nor delight the truly righteous ; but rather, O Father ! 
displace Sin with Good, Slavery with Justice, Poverty 
with Plenty ; do this, and I know that thy wayward 
and sinful ones will then have time and cause to praise 
and bless thee, and the righteous will be glad. 

If thou hast, by voluntary volition, created the 
heavens and the earth, and if thou hast destroyed cities, 
led thy children to war, and cursed nations with famine 
and disease, by the special and local exercise of thy 
Almightiness ; then canst thou create vaster earths, and 
build cities, give peace unto the world, and spread it 



22 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

over with blooming health and smiling plenty. Grant, 
O grant me this my supplication — this, the first re- 
quest which I have ever presumed to proffer at thy 
throne. And may I not ask thee, Father of my vision ! 
— may I not ask thee why all things therein shown 
me cause me to fear thee ? And may I not learn 
why, being good, and omnipotent, and so watchful over 
the elements of earth and human affairs as thy attributed 
special providences and local judgments seem to evince, 
why it is that thou wilt not do something as signal and 
as effectual toward removing Sin and Disease from the 
world, and thus converting Earth into Heaven ? 

The legitimate influence of a belief in Special Provi- 
dences, and consequently in the ability of man to move 
his Maker by prayer and supplication, was completelj 
embodied in the foregoing invocation. The belief 
begat in me what it cannot but produce in the mind of 
every one who realizes it, namely — Fear, Discontent, 
Presumption, and dictatorial Prayer. 

Immediately upon concluding my address, I ex- 
perienced the evidences of coming vision throughout 
my entire system. In a few minutes my interior per- 
ceptions were opened, and I beheld the person of my 
internal and spiritual Guide. That his mission was to 
impart some important and consoling instruction to my 






ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 23 

half-distracted and exhausted spirit, I was absolutely 
certain. His brilliant body and radiant mind consti- 
tuted a brighter sun than I had seen for several days. 
I was in the society of truth and good. When my 
interior condition was completely induced, and all my 
thoughts and perceptions were perfectly bestowed upon 
his glorious presence and mission, my Guide, fixing his 
sweet but positive expression of countenance upon my 
mind, thus addressed me : " Thinkest thou, because 
the earth is twenty-five thousand miles in circum- 
ference, and because it is inhabited by nine hundred 
millions of individualities, that the Great Supreme 
Spirit is engaged in particularly watching, specially 
influencing, and locally governing, that planet, its 
elements, and the people thereon? Speak, thinkest 
thou these things % " And I replied : " The earth with 
its inhabitants, and the generally received evidences of 
special providences, were presented to me on the mount, 
in a vision, in a light more convincing of Divine inter- 
position than ever was such doctrine ( taught by the 
aged and the educated about me in society." The 
countenance of my Guide radiated with even sweeter 
expression, as he again spoke, and said : " Speak, 
thinkest thou that these things are true, as they seemed 
to thee ? " And I confessed my faith in special Provi- 
dences by replying : " I acknowledge that I believe 



24 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

them." Whereupon my Guide threw the tranquillizing 
influence of his spirit over me, and, notwithstanding 
his manipulations, shut out the light of vision from my 
spiritual perceptions, and did not open my natural 
eyes, yet I felt as one with him, and buoyant as air. 
In a few moments I was wholly unconscious. 

Anon, a sweet-toned and musical voice aroused me, 
and, with my consciousness, there came from the 
depths of my soul capabilities and powers which, pre- 
vious to this moment, I had not known. Once more I 
heard the voice, and he who spake said : " Behold ! " 
and instantly my perceptions were opened, and I saw 
my glorious Guide, whose spacious forehead and up- 
turned eyes impressed me with the sublimest thought. 
Again he spoke, and bade me " turn and behold ! " I 
obeyed, and, standing side by side with him, our faces 
in the same direction, I beheld the most magnificently 
gorgeous representation of creative power. It seemed 
that we stood before the stupendous heights of the 
universe, upon a turret of the temple not made with 
hands: surrounding us on every side were worlds 
innumerable, and yet how noiselessly, how harmo- 
niously, did they move around an unseen Parental 
Centre ! There was not a world whose magnitude did 
not transcend my even then exalted conceptions. Their 
sublime beauty exceeded all language, and their im- 



ABE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES ? 25 

measurableness all known mathematical computations ! 
O, what an overwhelming scene ! Infinity seemed 
wreathed with worlds, and every world was decorated 
with lesser worlds, like mighty flowers of unutterable 
grandeur. Each and all were flying through the 
boundless realms of infinite space, with the velocity of 
the electric element, and yet they caused not so much 
sound as the ticking watch. Their speed was incon- 
ceivable, yet I could not see so much motion as there 
is in an insect's heart. I gazed beneath, and my per- 
ceptions enabled me to behold an awful depth, like 
unto a bottomless abyss. It was a sea of worlds, and 
so multitudinous were they, that in my attempts to 
obtain something like analogous numbers, I thought of 
all the drops of water on the earth, and yet the worlds 
of that sea were unnumbered. A^ain I thought of all 
the drops of water and grains of sand of which the 
earth is composed, and my Guide said : " Behold ! thou 
! hast now conceived of the myriads of worlds which are 
! congregated in yon distant group." And I looked 
again, and beheld a deeper Dej)th, in a remote 
corner of which was that group of assembled worlds 
more numerous than all the atoms of our earth ; and 
with still expanding and improved perceptions, I gazed 
and gazed into the depths beneath, there beholding seas 

of worlds upon seas of worlds — systems of worlds upon 
2 



26 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

systems of worlds — and yet I saw no bottom to that 
awful, but supremely magnificent vortex ? I grew 
dizzy at the thought; whereupon my Guide said: 
" Thinkest thou that we stand upon the pinnacle of the 
universal temple, and upon the topmost summit of the 
vast creation % " And I replied, while trembling at the 
awful contemplation of the scene beneath, "I do." 
Continuing to gaze upon me with serene expression, 
and elevating his hand toward the heavens, he said : 
" Be strong, and behold ! " Directed by him, my tele- 
scopic perceptions were turned on high, and I beheld 
with awe, and with an amazement which I cannot 
express, a vast ethereal concave, peopled with an end- 
less concatenation of transcendingly magnificent Orbs 
or Worlds, too numerous to be conceived of, and too 
beautiful to be described with human language. Se- 
ries, Groups, Degrees, and harmonious Organizations of 
Suns, Planets or Worlds, and Satellites, were visible 
everywhere ; and I could see no termination to the 
height, nor to the depth, nor to the length, nor to the 
breadth thereof! I saw that the stupendous Whole 
was without alpha and without omega ; it was infinite 
and universal ! 

The illimitable concavity, the interminable width, 
the bottomless vortex, the indescribable beauty, and 
the noiselessuess of the mighty whole, overcame me 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 27 

with a dissolving sense of my own nothingness. I 
seemed to be losing my individuality, when my Guide 
thus addressed me : " Thinkest thou now of the great- 
ness of an Earth twenty-five thousand miles in circum- 
ference f " 

I felt not a little rebuked, for I recalled what I had 
once conceived of the earth's magnitude, supposing it 
of such great importance in the sight of its Creator, but 
I was moved to reply, " No, O my celestial Guide ! I 
think of it no more — the greatness and magnificence 
of what I now see absorb the little Earth as the ocean 
drinks in the dewdrops. But now, speaking of the 
minute world, the Earth, I feel moved to inquire con- 
cerning its numerous inhabitants — are they not great 
and important in the sight of the Creator?" Imme- 
diately upon asking this question, the quality of my per- 
ceptions was changed; instead of being diffusive and 
comprehensive, they were particular and penetrative, 
and thus ramified into immensity. " Behold," spake my 
Guide, and he pointed to the infinite wreaths of worlds 
which had been shown me before, " behold, and realize 
the scene." I looked, and with amazement I saw that 
every world which was shining in those wreaths was an 
immense Earth, whose actual magnitude exceeds all 
measurement, and whose surface was peopled with the 
most elegant and celestial beings; I saw them, male and 



28 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

female, and they were wonderfully beautiful, and not 
unlike the inhabitants of our earth, but they were infi- 
nitely more perfect and refined. And I could see gor- 
geous habitations — residences of exquisite grandeur, 
having architectural decorations and structural embel- 
lishments altogether too beautiful to be described. 
Gazing into such a world, beholding millions of inhab- 
itants so perfect, so symmetrical, and so harmonious, I 
could not but exclaim, in my intense delight, " Surely 
this is heaven, and these are angels ! " But my Guide 
quieted my enthusiasm by saying : " Thinkest thou now 
of the greatness and importance of nine hundred mil- 
lions of individualities f Thinkest thou now that they 
require and receive special attention f " Again I felt 
not a little rebuked for having so magnified small thi?i</s, 
and I replied : "In view of these myriads and myriads 
of human yet divine beings, O kind Instructor ! I con- 
fess that my thought of Earth's inhabitants has passed 
into nothingness, like the winged ephemera ; but in a 
vision I saw what seemed to me, at that time, positive 
evidences that the people of earth do receive special 
attention from Him who created them." 

As I ceased speaking, an atmosphere of spiritual, 
mellow light suddenly enveloped my Guide; and his 
countenance, though sweet and attractive, expressed an 
unusual positiveness of purpose, as he said: "Gather 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 29 

thy perceptions within thee ; open thy understanding 
and hear me. I employ thee as a vehicle to convey my 
instructions to the inhabitants of Earth, and what I im- 
part thou shalt h'rst understand, because the convinced 
understanding can speak as one having authority. I 
was near thee on the mountain during thy vision of par- 
tial or local Providences, and also when, as a represen- 
tative of the most advanced theological and religious 
minds on Earth, thou prayedst to God for those bless- 
ings which thou didst need, in common with humanity. 
And when I perceived thy misapprehensions, and thy 
interrogatories, and thy importunities, I was impelled 
by the celestial spirit of fraternal love (which is guard- 
ian love) to convey thee to heights where I could be- 
stow a gift which is more precious than all thou askedst 
for humanity, — the gift #/* Wisdom. 

" When thou didst think of the Earth's greatness, I 
saw that a knowledge of the immense seas and realms 
of Creation would improve thy thoughts and under- 
standing. 

" When thou didst think upon the greatness and im- 
portance of humanity about thee, in consequence where- 
of thou didst believe in required and received special 
benefits and punishments, I saw that a more enlarged 
view of the universal family would elevate thy mind 
unto the mounts of Wisdom. 



30 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

" When thou didst think that God would spread dis- 
ease and destruction throughout cities and empires, 
and that his pleasure or displeasure could be manifested 
in answer to invocations, thoughts, prayers, or deeds, I 
saw that a more comprehensive and truthful understand- 
ing of his Character and Majesty would cause thee to 
rest, and not fear, but LOVE HIM. 

"And perceiving that thy conceptions of the Su- 
preme Spirit, his attributes, his government, or his local 
and fragmentary manifestations among men, were born 
of Ignorance, or were evidences that thy mind was 
suffering from a destitution of true knowledge, I there- 
fore resolved to convey thee where such conceptions 
cannot live, and where the causes of true knowledge 
reside in abundance." 

Here I felt impressed to inquire of my Guide, if he 
would present to me a view of the Earth and its inhab- 
itants, that I might the more vividly perceive the amaz- 
ing contrast between that world and the scenes of in- 
finity with which my mind was now filled. 

" Gather within thyself," he replied, " and I shall 
conduct thee thither." 

We passed over an inconceivable portion of infinite 
space, in what seemed but a few minutes, and arrived 
at a beautiful planet. 

"Behold," said he, pointing obliquely through the 



ARE TIIEEE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 31 

thin-orbed immensity, " behold, and realize the scene." 
I looked where he directed, and straining my percep- 
tions in the unsuccessful effort to obtain a view of Earth, 
I was forced to exclaim : " O, kind Instructor, I can 
see nothing ! " And he answered : " Behold, once 
more ; " and instantly I saw, in the remotest distance, 
a small bright spot, which gradually grew more and 
more distinct, and I could perceive something like clouds 
upon it ; and as I continued to gaze, the clouds as- 
sumed the appearance of hills, divided by little streams 
of water. " There," said my Guide, pointing towards 
it, " you now see the Continents, the Mountains, the 
Seas, the Lakes, and the Rivers of Earth." Still ob- 
serving the planet, I saw accumulations of various forms 
and colors — white, brown, black, and of a smoky ap- 
pearance — manifested in different directions; and I 
saw numerous minute dark bodies issuing therefrom, 
going in and out, crossing and recrossing each other's 
paths, and some jostling one another. I was surprised 
at the appearance of such immense ant-beds or mole- 
hills, as they seemed to me, and could not but exclaim 
to my Instructor, " Surely this is not the Earth ! " 
But he replied : " Thou beholdest now the numerous 
villages, cities, inhabitants, conflicts, and the pugilistic 
battles of Earth." Sensations of humiliation, and 
somewhat of dejection, crept over my spirit as these 



OZ PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

words were uttered by my kind but positive Guide. 
But continuing my observations, I saw, in every direc- 
tion, and indistinctly appearing, numerous miniature 
buildings of various construction. And in several of 
them I could perceive some of those same little dark 
bodies, which my Instructor had informed me were 
Earth's inhabitants. 

I was about to ask him concerning these buildings, so 
indistinctly seen, when he said : " You now see the 
Churches, and the people who occupy them, in the 
most enlightened portions of the Earth." At this an- 
nouncement I was much astonished ; for I remembered 
that clergymen, and those who built and supported 
churches, believe and teach that their faith and works 
shine bright before God. I asked my Guide for the 
privilege of hearing what one of the many clergymen 
was at that moment saying. This was permitted me ; 
and, through the medium of my improved and concen- 
trated hearing, I listened and heard these words: 
" We thank thee, O Father, for the gift of thy Only 
Son 3 -and for thy Holy Word. We thank thee for thy 
sacred promises, for thy protection, and for thy loving 
kindness ; and we pray that we may be led to seek sal- 
vation, through the sufferings, and the blood (shed for 
us) of thy only-begotten Son." And instantly I could 
hear no more ; but that prayer awakened a renewed in- 



AKE TIIEEE SPECIAL TEOVIDENOES ? 33 

terest in what I liad seen, in my vision on the mountain, 
concerning special providences ; the startling and ex- 
ternal evidences of which, though I no longer believed 
them to have been rightly apprehended by me, seemed 
now to require an explanation. Whereupon my Guide, 
instantly perceiving my thoughts, immediately replied 
to them, and said : 

" Thou art soon confounded by the falseness and im- 
perfections of thy natural birth-place (the Earth), be- 
cause thy understanding has yielded too much and too 
frequently to its superficial erudition and testimony ; 
and because also thy mind is not educated in the im- 
mutable principles of the Divine universal government. 
Thou desirest a knowledge of the interior and true 
Causes of those externally represented instances of 
Special Providences, the professed supernatural organ 
of which thou hast, in common with those about thee, 
sacredly believed. Listen, then, and I will explain to 
thee. 

" First. — Concerning the man who was rescued, and 
cured of his malady, from the moment he fell over the 
precipice, thou wilt perceive that the following causes 
were engaged : He was an ardent student, and, by pur- 
suing his studies to an extreme deviation from the in- 
variable laws of life and nature, his* cerebral structure 
was thrown into a state of semi-paralysis. He was af- 



34 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

f ected with that species of insanity known by physicians 
as Incoherence or Dementia ; the symptoms of which 
are incoherence of ideas, forgetfulness, extravagant 
speeches and actions, attempts to accomplish impossible 
things, etc. ; and, in this state of mind, he approached 
and fell over the precipice, as thou didst in thy vision 
witness. But the sudden and unexpected arrest of his 
falling body, owing to its coming in contact with a mass 
of woodbine, and the full realization of his perilous 
situation before resistance could reach him, so thoroughly 
revolutionized the circulation of the blood and spiritual 
life through his system, that the paralysis was removed, 
and hence he was instantly cured. Physicians are 
acquainted with parallel cases — instances where vigor- 
ous and healthy individuals have had their hair turned 
white, or been cured of disease, or have died in a few 
hours, by the sudden and unexpected announcement of 
distressing or joyful news. And if thou wilt ponder 
upon these things, numerous other instances will ap- 
pear, each accompanied with their producing causes. 

" Second. — Concerning the saving of the beautiful 
village, while destruction was surrounding it on every 
side ; know thou that the interior causes of this extra- 
ordinary circumstance are to be found in the situation 
of the strata upon which the village was built. The 
primary and secondary stratifications were so interlocked 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 35 

and super-blended together, that, while other and differ- 
ent strata were rent and broken by the efforts of ele- 
ments to regain an equilibrium between the internal 
gases and the external atmosphere (commonly called 
earthquakes), those strata upon which the village stood 
sustained no injury or disturbance. 

"Third. — Learn, that the condemned female was 
saved from death in the inquisitorial hall, because the 
executioner held a conductor of electricity in his hand. 
Thou rememberest that his sword was very bright ; but 
for this superior magnet, the female might have as 
instantaneously experienced the same fate as did her 
executioner and other inmates of the temple. 

" Fourth. — The Earthquake, which occurred at the 
time the Romans crucified him whose name was Jesus, 
was a simple instance of coincidental or concurring 
circumstances. But thou must bear in mind this truth, 
that the external of anything is not the innermost 
reality ; because the development of anything is colored 
and exaggerated, or deformed and subverted, more or 
less, by those external influences by which the develop- 
ment is surrounded. Thus, the written account of this 
earthquake is greatly exaggerated and unreasonably 
stated among some of the inhabitants of the Earth. It 
has become a romance, not a reality — not a fact, but a 
fiction! Coincidences are of daily and hourly occur- 



36 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PKOVIDENCES. 

rence among the people ; not similar in sublimity, but 
equally as wonderful — such as the sudden- stopping of a 
watch, or the breaking of a mirror, or the howling of a 
house-dog, or the going down of the sun, at the hour 
of a spirit's departure from the body. But the unde- 
viating processes of Nature, and the ordinary, and 
sometimes marked, coincidental meeting of circum- 
stances with those natural processes, furnish the true 
explanation of all local and extraordinary events 
which ever have or ever can occur. 

" Fifth. — The sudden death of Ananias, while giving 
in a false oath, was occasioned by psychological and 
physiological causes, or rather by the mind acting 
violently upon matter. He had a disease of the heart, 
known by physicians as hypertrophy ; and, while mak- 
ing his deposition, the conflict was so great between 
interest and duty, between the consciousness of right 
and wrong; between the effort to conceal his true 
thoughts, and to unhesitatingly speak false ones ; that 
his heart was unusually agitated, the blood regurgitated 
into its chambers, and forthwith its operations ceased — 
and this is certain and immediate death. The heart is 
not always diseased when similar instances of sudden 
death occur; sometimes mental excitement will burst 
cerebral veins, and cause instant extinction of life. 

" Sixth. — The crossing of the Eed Sea on dry land i« 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES ? 37 

another illustration of Actionized facts, of realities 
changed to romance. The Children of Israel were 
enabled to cross the Red Sea on comparatively dry 
land, by having their escape from Egypt predetermined 
and prearranged, thus : In one part of the Sea, there 
extended a bai\ or miniature 'mountain of sand, which, 
during the recession of the tides, was completely ex- 
posed to the heat of the sun. This exposure generally 
continued for several hours. Bonaparte and his army 
once crossed upon this bar ; so did Alexander and his 
army ; so also did three Egyptian generals, accompanied 
by their armed hosts. It was by this passage that the 
tribes, under Moses, predetermined to escape; and, in 
order to render their emancipation from Pharoah and 
slavery doubly certain, Moses calculated their departure 
from Egypt with sufficient precision to reach and cross 
the sea just in advance of the returning tides. Thus he 
was certain, that, if Pharaoh pursued with his hosts, for 
the purpose of recapturing the tribes, the tides would 
return, while the army was on the bar, and overwhelm 
them ; and his anticipations were fully realized. Thou 
seest, in this instance, how fortunate and extraordinary 
events are exaggerated by the benefited parties, as being 
the astonishing approval and particular dispensations of 
some attending Deity. 

" Seventh. — The diseased individual, who believed 



38 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

'as did the clergyman and people) that her sufferings 
were punishments imposed by God, that she might 
thereby exercise patience, and have wrought for her a 
' far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,' was 
thus afflicted because she had lived in perpetual viola- 
tion of the laws of Nature. Having wealth and ser- 
vants in abundance, she was enabled to procure, and 
subsist upon, the most expensive and therefore the most 
unwholesome food; the richest viands and cloying 
dainties ; whilst indulging in luxurious idleness, without 
occupation, and dressing in the most unnatural manner, 
enslaving the freedom of the body, and denying it its 
natural and absolutely required exercise. And conse- 
quently, instead of experiencing pain induced by for- 
eign causes, she was reaping fruit according to the seed 
she herselj 'had sown. 

" Eighth. — The beautiful and precocious infant, which 
thou didst behold, was thus developed and early called 
away, by causes which were in operation previous to its 
birth. The mother had sustained no injury, no fright, 
no violation of Nature's reproductive laws; but she 
possessed a particularly studious mind, and had been 
arduously engaged in intellectual cultivation and pur- 
suits after knowledge. And the child was a represent- 
ative of these peculiar circumstances (which is an issue 
or result invariably to be expected) ; and its spirit, being 






ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 39 

so prematurely developed, exhausted the deficient forces 
in its physical constitution, and a slight extrinsic cause 
produced its death. — I employ the language thou art 
accustomed to hear and use when speaking of a Spirit's 
departure from the body. 

"Ninth. — The youth who disobeyed his parents, 
and sought pleasure on what thou callest the ' Sabbath 
day,' was not drowned because of his disobedience, nor 
because the day was considered holy among the so 
styled enlightened minds of the earth; but simply 
because he was on the water, and because the storm 
raged at that particular hour. Truth is simple and 
natural / Error is compound and artificial. Accord- 
ing to this propositional rule, I would have thee con- 
trast w/iat the people of the Earth said concerning the 
disobedient son, with what I have said concerning the 
causes of his death, and thou wilt most surely see which 
is the simple and which is the compound, and how to 
distinguish truth from error. 

" Tenth. — The affirmations of the Clergyman will 
appear to thee as weak and almost inexcusably unrea- 
sonable when I inform thee that the young and inter- 
esting daughter, instead of having been removed from 
her parents and the earth by a special Providence, 
was herself the cause of her death. She had a consti- 
tutional predisposition to uterine neuralgia; and, by 



40 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PEOVBOENCES. 

frequently exhausting her system with dancing, and 
by dressing herself in apparel wholly inconsistent with 
the atmospherical temperature and with her state of 
physical depletion, she acquired a severe cold ; this 
induced inflammation and neuralgia, which, not being 
relieved, resulted in vital mortification." 

The easy and natural manner in which my Guide 
explained the various instances of seeming special Prov- 
idences, which I had witnessed in my vision on the 
mount, caused me to exclaim : " O, kind Instructor ! 
my understanding gladly drinks in thy explanations ; 
but I am educated, on the Earth, to believe that what 
delighteth the tmderstanding is frequently fatal to the 
eternal interests of the soul — wilt thou instruct me in 
this ? " As I spoke this request, the Earth disappeared 
from my view, and I turned to look at and again to 
question my Guide, when he said : " Dost thou remem 
ber the innumerable and Immortal Orbs thou hast seen ? 
Dost thou remember the myriads of Seas of Worlds, 
whose tides flow so noiselessly through the boundless, 
interminable Realms of Infinity ? Dost thou remember 
the unutterable grandeur, the inconceivable harmony, 
and the magnificent display of Infinite Love and Wis- 
dom ? Rememberest thou all this ? If thou dost re- 
member, then will I disclose to thee another Truth — 
then will I reveal to thee that thou hast not gazed upon 



41 

the Works of God from the Heights of its Universe, 
nor from a Turret of the Infinite Temple. Learn that 
thou hast but stood with me within the spacious Vesti- 
bule, and there contemplated only an infinitesimal por- 
tion of the Greatness, the Harmony, and Grandeur of 
the Universe. Those dazzlingly brilliant and supremely 
beautiful worlds, to behold which drew from thy spirit 
expressions of delight and amazement — causing thee to 
exclaim, ' This is Heaven! ' — they are but planets, and 
their inhabitants — those spiritually exalted and magnifi- 
cently harmonious beings, whom you gazed upon with 
wonder, rapturously calling them ' Angels ! ' — they are 
but Men and Women, in mind and body constructed 
upon the same musical principles as develop the human 
sexes on the Earth. Thou hast seen nothing compared 
with that which is still unseen — nor couldst thou as yet 
have conceived, from all thou hast beheld, one thought 
worthy to be termed an idea of God. What thinkest 
thou, therefore, now of thy doctrinal education on the 
Earth ? How seemeth to thee the most enlightened 
teachers there % Hast thou now still remaining upon 
thy mind a fear that He who lives through and sustains, 
and harmonizes, and perfects, the million-fold of Uni- 
verses and all their vast possessions — I say, fear est thou 
that such a Being could or would make a group of hu- 
man spirits so imperfect as to cause the heart and 



42 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

understanding to war with one another ? — and I ask of 
thee, canst thou still, for one moment, believe that such 
a Being is engaged in causing "Wars, Pestilences, Devas- 
tations, and the numerous other Ills which the inhabit- 
ants of Earth have not yet learned to prevent — the Evils 
they have not outgrown ? And thinkest thou that the 
Great Moving Principle of the Universal Revolving 
Heavens is to be importuned to abolish those ills, to 
remove Poverty, Crime, Slavery, and Disease — to cure 
those Evils which are of human origin, and must die 
where they originated ? I tell thee nay! The Great 
Living Principle — the Great Living Cause — the Great 
Living Father of all Worlds, and of their countless 
inhabitants, moves His Universe by Unchangeable, Im- 
mutable, and Impartial Laws ! He creates no World, 
no Spirit, no Circumstance, by any other than General 
Principles ; and therefore He dispenses no Partial 
Blessings or Curses in the Eternal Empire of His uni- 
versal Government. " 

Silence, submission, and conviction, pervaded and 
penetrated my entire soul ; and I only found words to 
reply : " I will remember — I will communicate what I 
have seen and heard." 

" Then," said my Instructor, " gather thy perceptions 
and living powers within thee." I instantly obeyed, and 
I experienced the sweet, tranquillizing influence of his 



ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 43 

Spirit so thoroughly that a deep sleep came over me, 
even to entire unconsciousness. Again I was awakened 
by the music of his voice. I was still in the state I 
name my superior condition, and my Guide said : 
" Thou art again on the Earth, in the grove, under those 
trees where thou didst pray to God for instruction ; 
henceforth, when Ignorance and Error, Superstition 
and Prejudice, arise mountain high before thee, and 
seem about to crush thee, — then remember ! — remember 
what thou hast seen — remember then that thou hast 
stood upon sublime and stupendous heights, and upon 
eternal elevations, which, led by pure Wisdom, all 
human Spirits may attain ! and whenever Earth's 
Theologies and Religions, those phantoms of the people, 
arise like shadows before thee — then remember that 
thou hast read the Title Page of the True Word, and 
that thou hast entered the Vestibule of the Divine and 
Universal Temple — the " Temple not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens! " 

There was silence around, and holy stillness. My 
G uide said no more. The magnetic influence of his Spirit 
passed gradually away, and I returned to my natural 
condition. As I pursued my walk homeward, my heart 
was filled with happiness and contentment. The night 
had come on, and it was dark to the physical eyes. But 
the Sun-light, of an Infinite and Eternal Day shone 



44 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

brightly through the now unfolded portions of my j 
Immortal soul ; and by that Light which knows no dark- 
ness, I had learned not to Fear but to Love the Supreme 
Principle ! 



THE ARGUMENT FOR IMMUTABILITY. 



That the Deity bestows particular attention upon the 
Earth and its inhabitants, is an opinion which has been 
long and universally entertained by mankind. The 
Indian loves to believe that his tribe and lands were 
bequeathed by the over-ruling Sachem ; that all his hunt- 
ing excursions and achievements on the battle-field are 
rendered victorious in consequence of that Power's su- 
preme approval. The Savage, the Barbarian and the 
Patriarch, are equally impressed with a corresponding 
conviction ; but as individual and national experiences 
accumulate, and the principles of scientific research and 
civilization are unfolded, the Savage and Barbarian 
opinions become refined, systematized, and comparative- 
ly sublimated. In evidence of this statement, I refer 
the reader to the fact, that, instead of the crude and 
petty manifestations of Supreme attention, recognized 
by the Indian, we find the sublimer and more dignified 
exhibitions of Divine design and power, in the writings 
and opinions of modern Patriarchs, Priests, and Teach- 



46 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

ers. These confine their attention not so much to the 
mere formation of our globe, as to the marvellous and 
sublime manifestations of Power and Purpose, which 
they profess to recognize as proceeding from the Deity 
to his children on the Earth some hundreds of years ago. 
Thus, they recognize special and immediate interposi- 
tions of God in the birth and finding of Moses ; in the 
captivity, escape, and multifarious experiences of the 
tribes under his control ; in his enlightenment, in his 
miracles, in his commandments, and in his principles of 
government ; and in all that the various Prophets were 
enabled to perform ; and in the birth of Jesus too, in 
his incarnation, in his life, in his teachings, in his mira- 
cles, and in the kind of death which he ultimately ex- 
perienced ; and also in the endowments and incarnations 
of Prophet, Apostle, Pope, Priest, Bishop ; and in the 
supreme and absolute authority invested in the Holy 
Bible by the institution of the sacred Canon. Thus 
Patriarchs and modern Teachers have advanced and 
enlarged upon the convictions of the Indian, who only 
sees the particular favor of the Deity in his successful 
hunting, and victorious battles. 

The origin of the belief under consideration may be 
primarily traced to ignorance. It is unreasonable to 
expect that any individual can have a more expansive 
view of God than the Indian or Patriarch, if he is like- 



THE ARGUMENT FOR IMMUTABILITY. 47 

wise persuaded that the Earth is the centre of Creation, 
and that its inhabitants are the particular children of 
the Creator. Those who acknowledge a belief in sup- 
ernatural manifestations, or Special Providences, have 
somewhere in the mind a defective understanding of the 
Deity and his works. 

But the belief in Special Providences has also a sec- 
ondary origin in Desire. Some nations and individuals 
have a powerful desire to be considered particularly im- 
portant and righteous in the sight of the Creator. It is 
gratifying and supporting to some peculiarly constructed 
minds, to think themselves divinely favored, divinely 
commissioned, divinely endowed ; to believe themselves 
to be the chosen few particularly in the possession of a 
" high calling ; " and thus actuated, such individuals, by 
first deceiving others, for the purpose of receiving the 
approbation and emoluments consequent upon such posi- 
tions and endowments, ultimately deceive themselves. 
I once came in contact with an individual whose love of 
distinction, approbation, notoriety, and personal power, 
were so strong, and so predominated over his imper- 
fectly developed attributes of prudence and conscien- 
tiousness, that he was moved to set himself up as the 
Jews' Messiah. At first it was but pretension ; but at 
last he himself earnestly believed it; and did many 
things in demonstration of what lie supposed to be his 



4:8 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PKOVIDENCES. 

peculiar and personal mission to that unadvanced and 
disunited people. But the belief we are considering can 
also be traced to Education ; therefore, ignorance, and 
doctrinal education (which is mainly ignorance subli- 
mated), and desire, are, in numerous forms and states of 
combination, the causes of a belief in Special or Im- 
mediate Providences. 

There is, however, a belief of the understanding, in 
the local and universal government of God, which is 
adequate to supply every demand of the pure and rea- 
sonable intellect. And this is the belief in the Perfec- 
tion, the Unchangeableness, and in the Universality of 
the Principles of Divine Government and Legisla- 
tion. These Principles are so admirably arranged as to 
comprehend, protect, and govern, the Mighty Orb, the 
"falling Sparrow," the insect's Eye, and the human 
Soul. These Principles are simply the rules or modes 
by which the Great Moving Principle governs the Uni- 
verse, and bestows his universal care and blessings upon 
all created things. These Laws, by which He thus 
governs, are so unchangeable and perfect as to render 
supernatural manifestations both useless and positively 
impossible. 

The miracle of changing water into wine, attributed 
to Jesus, is in direct opposition to the established laws 
of fluids and gases ; and again, the miracle of the res- 



THE ARGUMENT FOR IMMUTABILITY. 49 

toration of Lazarus to life and health, subsequently to 
the death and decomposition of his body, is in positive 
antagonism to the determined laws of life and organi- 
zation ; and so, likewise, the miraculous birth of Jesus 
is no less a positive violation of the immutable laws of 
reproduction and procreation. 

The proof that these exhibitions of Special Provi- 
dences never did occur precisely as they are related, is 
to be found in the fact that the Deity and his Laws are 
perfect a?id unchangeable. But, it may be said, that 
these miracles were performed according to preordained 
but previously inactive laws, which laws were called into 
effect, for the first time, when and where those miracles 
were wrought ; and it may also be said, that the Deity, 
" knowing the End even from the Beginning," did, in 
order to bring about these astounding developments of 
might and design, institute and make an eternal provi- 
sion for the special action of a set of principles, which, 
previous or subsequent to the birth of Jesus, were not 
intended to be brought into requisition. This hypothe- 
sis, entertained by the most intelligent theologians 
throughout Christendom, is refuted upon the ground 
that the Deity is an unalterable Being / that his laws 
are proofs of his unchangeableness, and, consequently, 
that he cannot make a set of laws for one age of the 
world, which in their action will develop effects in di- 



50 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

rect opposition to his universally established modes of 
being and doing in every other age. For, should it be 
admitted that God acted at one period in positive viola- 
tion or contradiction of his works in every other period, 
then are the unchangeableness and the integrity of his 
character impeached, and all true confidence in his In- 
finite Perfection shaken and unsettled. 

But again it may be urged, that God is All-powerful, 
and that he, therefore, can at pleasure suspend, tran- 
scend, or destroy any set of Laws which originated with 
him ; and that the miracles attributed to Jesus and 
others, together with the many instances of Divine 
special attention and interposition, recorded on the 
pages of profane and ecclesiastical history, were devel- 
oped and performed, not by violating, but by suspend- 
ing or transcending the operation of those Laws which 
are found to be, at other times, nndeviating throughout 
JSTature. To this again the reply is, that the Perfection 
and Unehangeableness of the Laws of the Deity ren- 
der those miracles and divine interpositions both useless 
and impossible. And, furthermore, it is not to be, for 
one moment, admitted that the Deity did create those 
Laws which operate so consistently throughout the il- 
limitable Universe. 

The Laws of Nature, like Mature itself and the hut- 
man soul, were not created by the Deity, but were and 



THE ARGUMENT FOR IMMUTABILITY. 51 

are the spontaneous attributes of his divine Existence 
and Constitution. In other words, they are the inevi- 
table and indispensable developments of the Divine 
Essence. Hence I affirm that the Deity did no more 
create the Laws of Nature than did they create him ; 
they are simply the outer manifestations of the internal 
essential principles which constitute his existence and 
Organization ; and consequently, the Deity and his Laws 
are equally beyond the possibility of being changed, 
suspended, transcended, or destroyed. All arguments 
concerning the possibility of special providences, or of 
supernatural manifestations and miracles of any charac- 
ter or extent, which are claimed and believed by many 
nations, sects, and individuals, can have their intrinsic 
value summarily determined by the syllogistic form of 
demonstration. Thus — 

1st Proposition. — Joshua claimed to have com- 
manded and caused the Sun and Moon to stand still 
for several hours. 

2d Proposition. — The Deity and his Laws are 
unchangeable. 

3d, Conclusion. — Therefore, Joshua was either de- 
ceiving or deceived. 

And again, — 

1st Proposition. — Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and 
modem Christian religious teachers, claim for Jesus a 



52 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

supernatural birth, and a supernatural power of work- 
ing astonishing miracles. 

2d Proposition. — The Laws of Nature are beyond 
the possibility of being changed, suspended, transcended, 
or destroyed. 

3d, Conclusion. — Therefore, Matthew, Mark, Luke, 
and John were mistaken, and modern Christian re- 
ligious Teachers are deceived. 

The consoling belief which flows from the under- 
standing into the affections, and which is capable of 
satisfying the reasonable demands of the soul, is a be- 
lief that God is perfect and unchangeable; that he lives 
through all things, and has made life, harmony, and 
happiness attainable to all. When the human mind 
conceives and believes that God is impartial, and that 
he displays his natural and harmonious attributes 
throughout Nature, and in the deepest recesses of the 
Soul, then it will rest and be happy. An individual, 
thus believing, is perfectly invincible to the invasions 
and tirades of that fallacious education, and hereditary 
prejudice, which exist in the world. The Convinced 
soul is not disturbed by every " word of doctrine ; " it 
is not moved by the preaching of miraculous manifesta- 
tions, as demonstrating the divine commission of any 
man ; nor can the doctrines of physical resurrection, or 
final judgment, or eternal condemnation, or any other 



THE ARGUMENT FOR IMMUTABILITY. 53 

absurdity and fallacy of the popular schools, affect the 
convinced understanding; for such know that God is 
an Eternal Magnet of concentrated Goodness, and that 
man's pathway is eternally onward and upward to the 
Supreme Attraction. 

God is sufficiently minute, local, and immediate, in 
his providences, to impart life and beauty to everything 
throughout the innumerable ramifications of infinite 
Creation. He possesses within himself the principles 
of all Motion, all Life, all Sensation, and all Intelli- 
gence. He is the Infinite Germ of the Great Universal 
Tree of Causation; and according to the absoluteness 
of self-existence, and consequent necessity, his celestial 
essences and essential principles unfold and flow, with 
the minutest precision, into the smallest atoms and 
organizations in nature. 

It is not good, nor is it true or elevating, to believe 
that God originally designed and instituted an endless 
succession of consecutive causes and effects for the ex- 
press purpose of giving birth to just such an organiza- 
tion as Jesus had, or such as any other individual may 
possess. But it is very good and righteous to believe 
that God unfolds and develops, from out of the inex- 
haustible plenitude of his Infinite Life and constitution, 
a vast combination of Laws and Elements, which will 
go on eternally, elaborating human spirits, and will 



54 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

continue to improve and perfect them more and more 
in proportion as the circumstances of birth, of climate, 
of education and government, advance toward intel- 
lectual development and individual perfection. Hence 
it is unreasonable and unrighteous to believe that God 
t akes special notice of those numerous transgressions, by 
which individuals only injure and experimentally edu- 
cate themselves. Nor is it good to believe that God 
exerts his omnipotent power, w T ith the express design of 
arresting the action of physical laws or elements, or to 
send rain, or to bestow special endowments, or signal 
privileges, or particular gratifications, in answer to the 
prayers of the, so styled, righteous. For such a belief 
would be admitting God to be a " respecter of persons," 
and also the cause of inconceivable injustices and in- 
juries to some — yea, it would be making him a mutable 
Being. 

Let us think of this proposition, — let us consider, 
that any clergyman (it may be the present Pope Pius), 
thought by many to be a righteous man, — suppose he 
prays for the protection of the king, for the enrichment 
of the kingdom, and for the perpetuation of a mon- 
archical or theocratical system of government. And 
suppose that, at the same time, a representative of the 
people prays as fervently for the downfall of the king, 
and for the establishment of a republic instead of a 



THE ARGUMENT FOR IMMUTABnJTY. 55 

kingdom. Of course, these opposing supplications are 
addressed to one and the same God. Now if the Deity 
who rules the universe should grant the prayer of one 
of these individuals, the desires of the other would 
necessarily be ungratified, — his particular favor be- 
stowed upon the one party would perhaps result in im- 
mense evils to the other. Again, a righteous man, liv- 
ing upon the mountain- side, may earnestly pray for 
rain, to cause his fruit-trees and agricultural produc- 
tions to yield abundantly ; whilst another equally righ- 
teous man, living in the valley beneath, having already 
had a great supply of rain upon his farm, in conse- 
quence of water accumulating in his springs from off 
the adjacent hills, and knowing that any more, just 
then, would injure his forthcoming crops, he therefore 
earnestly prays to God for fair weather. Now if the 
prayer of the one be granted, the other will sustain 
great injury in his pecuniary interests, and so, vice 
versa. Hence, to be just and impartial, God must exist 
and govern according to universal and unchangeable 
principles. 

In considering special and universal providences with 
a belief of the understanding, the highest and greatest 
comfort flowing therefrom is based upon the glorious 
and already (to me) demonstrated truth, that our earth 
is environed by a Spiritual World. And not only is our 



56 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

earth thus surrounded, but so likewise are all the earths 
or planets belonging to our solar system. In truth, 
there is a great sphere of spiritual existences, which, 
touching it, girdle the material sphere, a part of which 
we are at present existing in ; and again, encircling that 
sphere, are a galaxy of greater spheres, more refined 
and more magnificent ; which are inhabited by spirits, 
drawn onward by the eternal magnet of Supreme Good- 
ness. Thus there is a chain extending from man to 
Deity ! And all that we can desire in the form of at- 
tention and dispensation is abundantly supplied, and 
handed down to us, by and through the spiritual inhab- 
itants of higher spheres, the links in that chain of Love ! 
The human soul is constructed upon musical princi- 
ples, which impart to it a constitutional tendency toward 
harmony and happiness. The various attractions to 
which its tones respond are Self-love, Conjugal -love, 
Parental-love, Fraternal-love, Filial-love, and Universal- 
love. But what I desire to impress here is, that these 
Loves are innate affinities which draw soul to soul ; 
which cause the human mind to feel attracted to corre- 
sponding loves or affinities in other minds, without ref- 
erence to time, space, age, position, education, or circum- 
stances. Therefore, should conjugal-love prompt an 
individual soul to jpray for conjugal association, and 
should that soul's true associate reside in the Spiritual 



THE ARGUMENT FOR IMMUTABILITY. 57 

World, it is almost certain that the prayer of the yearn- 
ing heart on earth will be certainly answered by the 
spirit, which is impelled by this irresistible attraction to 
seek its true companion. But here let it be remembered 
that all spirits and angels were once men; lived in 
physical organizations as we do; and died as we die, 
previous to their departure for the spirit-home. And 
we all have relatives there — parents, sisters, and 
brothers, perhaps, and also relatives according to spirit- 
ual affinities. And the Spirit World is not far off ; it 
is very near, around and above us at all times ; and 
that which was truly joined here is not separated there ; 
death does not divide, nor does it remove the loved 
ones beyond the reach of the spirit's desires or prayers. 
As conjugal-love is answered by some spirit having a 
corresponding attraction, so are other loves responded 
to by corresponding loves ; and thus there proceeds to 
us, and that not unfrequently, a vast variety of good 
suggestions and righteous impulses, from some of our 
natural or spiritual relatives who now reside in higher 
spheres. And thus, too, when the soul is earnestly 
praying for knowledge whereby to direct social govern- 
ment, or for light upon the great problem of reorganiz- 
ing and harmonizing society, it is perfectly safe and 
reasonable to believe that the noble spirits who have 
lived among us on the earth, and who are now particu- 



58 PHILOSOPHY or SPECIAL pkovidences. 

larly educated in these questions, draw nigh, and, per- 
haps, insinuate some valuable thoughts into the under- 
standing of the praying spirit, — this would be a response 
to the fraternal-love, or the love of the neighbor. 
Hence we may truthfully say that Providence imparts 
special information — not by direct and immediate design, 
but by the operation of those natural and unchangeable 
laws whereby are governed the universal combinations 
of Mind and Matter. Spiritual intercourse is developed 
and rendered universally practicable by the Law of As- 
sociation, or by the Law of Affinities. Therefore, who- 
ever should truthfully and sincerely desire or pray for 
light upon governmental and social subjects, whereby 
to reform society and develop harmony among men, he 
would, probably, if susceptible to interior impressions, 
receive something, it might be, from the now educated 
Moses, or Lycurgus, or Solon, or Plato; for each of 
these individuals had their fraternal-love considerably 
developed and rudimentally educated by the friction of 
social and other circumstances previous to their depart- 
ure for the Superior Country. So, also, should any 
individual earnestly seek to be enlightened concerning 
spiritual and religious truths ; should he pray to know 
more of God and the Universe, it is more than possible, 
it is probable, that the now advanced Paul, or David, or 
John, or Fenelon, or some departed relative, having the 



THE ARGUMENT FOR IMMUTABILITY. 59 

filial-love fully developed and in constant exercise, 
would impart sweet instructions, and satisfy the in- 
quirer. 

I desire the reader to seek an illustration and con- 
firmation of this fact by disciplining and unfolding the 
mind to the influx of spiritual impressions. 

Responses from the Spirit World will never be con- 
flicting ; and, therefore, should an individual pray and 
receive what he considers a reply, and should this reply 
contradict what others have said or revealed, then the 
only criterion by which to judge of its truth or false- 
hood is the unfailing standard of Nature and Reason. 
For instance, if a person should affirm after earnestly 
praying, or while in what is modernly termed the mag- 
netic state, that he had heard or perceived that the sun 
and moon were stationary during the period assigned by 
Joshua, then the statement must be tested by Nature, 
and Nature must be tested by Reason. Again, if an 
individual (Emanuel Swedenborg or Jacob Beman, for 
instance) should affirm that he perceived in the Spiritual 
World that the Bible is the Word of God — that it is a 
sacred embodiment of Truth — that it contains no errors 
— then the truthfulness of such an affirmation must be 
tested by referring it to the unchangeable and immeas- 
urable Standard of Nature and Reason, thus: 

1. The Bible is affirmed to be all true. 



60 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

2. Joshua) s miracle is recorded in the Bible, which 
is not true. 

3. Conclusion — The affirmation is false. 

Nature and Reason are the only mathematicians who 
can perfectly demonstrate and unfailingly exhibit the 
true or false character of every statement which the 
profoundly ignorant, as well as the educated mind, may 
be moved to make, under any conceivable circum- 
stances. 

The embracing nearness of the Spiritual "World, and 
its accessibleness, furnish the spirit with every advan- 
tage and gratification it should desire, through the 
mediums of providential dispensations or Divine inter- 
position. But if the ambitious and aspiring Christian 
heart is dissatisfied with the mediate and indirect man- 
ner in which its prayers to God are answered — dissatis- 
fied because the Deity himself does not more directly 
hearken to its invocations, then I desire to impress that 
heart with this truth : that no human spirit has yet con- 
ceived a thought, or uttered a word, as it conceives of 
the Father, sufficiently magnanimous, sublime, or ex- 
pressive, to be applied to even one of the glorious indi- 
viduals, who, though once a resident upon some Earth, 
now treads the beautiful paths and flowering valleys of 
the Spirit Home. 

Think not, because God is so inconceivable in his 



THE ARGUMENT FOR IMMUTABILITY. 61 

Greatness, so elevated above special prayer, and special 
action, that he is far removed from our spirits — no, he 

" Lives in the soul, informs our mortal part, 
As full, as perfect in a hair as heart ; 
. As full, as perfect in vile man that mourns, 
As in the rapt seraph that adores and burns." 

And so near is he, that in him we daily and hourly 
" live, move, and have our being," — we are in him and 
of him, and as the body, branches, twigs, leaves, buds, 
blossoms, and fruit of a tree are unfolded and min- 
utely developed from the essences and beginning prin- 
ciples which were originally deposited in ks Germ, so 
does the Great Germinal Essence of the Universal Tree 
unfold and develop the minutest branches, buds, blos- 
soms, and organizations, whicli perfume and adorn the 
Stupendous Whole. 

If a particular bud, or a chosen number of buds, 
should set up a claim to special blessings and attentions, 
and should they invoke and adjure the Germ to dis- 
pense a large share of its life and fluids to them, the 
other buds may remain perfectly satisfied that justice 
will preside over every dispensation of the moving prin- 
ciple which gave them birth. So, likewise, should any 
individual, or class of individuals, make pretensions to 
righteousness in consequence whereof they presume to 
invoke, importune, and adjure the Deity to grant them 



62 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

special, immediate, and eternal favors, other individ- 
uals may rest perfectly satisfied that the Deity and His 
Laws are Equal, beyond the possibility of Chance, Sus- 
pension, or Separation, and hence, that Eternal Justice 
will preside over the distribution of Divine" life and 
happiness to every flower and spirit, to every atom and 
seraph, that has an existence anywhere in the wide- 
spread gardens of God ! 



THE SW AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. 



Having ascertained that the Laws of Nature are un- 
changeable, and that the Deity never alters his mode of 
being, we may now, by way of an application of these 
Truths, inquire what is meant by the sin against the 
Holy Ghost ? 

The sin against the Holy Ghost, which is generally 
understood as being the unpardonable sin, is susceptible 
of a more reasonable interpretation than the learned 
scholars of early centuries, and the biblical commen- 
tators of modern times, have bestowed upon it. This 
question of the unpardonable sin has agitated many no- 
ble and educated minds ; and it is not unlikely that it 
has confounded and frightened many honest and timid 
minds who have searched the primitive history for 
truths and everlasting life. But those clergymen and 
commentators who have inquired concerning the true 
meaning of this passage in the Bible, have been thor- 
oughly satisfied, I believe, that it was a sin they never 
had themselves committed. If it ever was committed, 



64 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

they think the sin is certainly chargeable upon some 
neighbor, or a certain class of individuals. 

Athanasius believed it was chargeable upon the Phar- 
isees, for their contempt of Christ and His works, which 
they maliciously and wickedly imputed to the agency of 
the Devil, being at the same time fully persuaded that those 
works were performed in a good spirit ; and in this im- 
putation is an implicit disbelief in Christ's divine and 
supernatural origin ; thus constituting, in the mind of a 
believer in supernatural and mysterious things, a most 
formidable sin, one too intrinsically evil to be forgiven. 

The difference between a sin against the Holy Ghost 
and a sin of ignorance, of forgetf ulness, of neglect, of 
inadvertency, and other minor sins against positive or 
negative precepts and customs, consists in the former sin 
being totally unpardonable, and the latter sin being 
possible to forgive until seventy times seven. But, 
I think it will appear to those who are accustomed 
to the employment of their reason, that the punishment 
which is generally affixed to the commission of the un- 
pardonable sin is entirely at variance with those fair 
proportions which always characterize the principles of 
justice and truth. 

The relation between this crime and its punishment 
is no more consistent, just, or intimate, than burning a 
member of the body, or sowing seed, in America, and 



THE BIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. 65 

feeling the pain, or reaping the harvest, in England. 
Nor are we to suppose that an individual, who (com- 
pared with the infinite Creator) is but a finite and 
almost insignificant creature, can possibly commit a 
crime which will be attended with eternal conse- 
quences. For, let it be thoroughly impressed, that the 
human mind can no more break or mar one of the eter- 
nal Laws of Nature than it can render the Deity imper- 
fect or unhappy ! To believe that God will punish in- 
finitely human beings for any finite transaction, is to 
believe that God is unjust — yea, even according to hu- 
man principles of goodness and equity. Any punish- 
ment, to be just, must be proportionate to the magni- 
tude of the transgression ; and, therefore, the idea of an 
individual being punished with an everlasting punish- 
ment for that sin, which (according to true philosophy) 
is only an injury done to himself, is an idea only suita- 
ble to the barren mind of the barbarian. 

But the true explanation of the idea of an unpardon- 
able sin (which idea I am willing should remain clothed 
in the terms, " sin against the Holy Ghost ") is now 
deemed necessary. 

The terms Holy Ghost are applied, in theology, 
almost exclusively to the third person in the Godhead, 
but this furnishes no clue to a proper interpretation of 
the idea. The idea is simply as follows : 



66 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

The Great Positive Mind lives, moves, and governs, 
in the vast universe of mind and matter, according to 
certain fixed laws or rules, which constitute the Holy 
Ghost or Excellent Laws that proceed from his Spirit 
into All things. The term Holy signifies excellent; 
and the term Ghost signifies law or laws. The individ- 
ual is always under the control of three laws, which 
laws operate with an undeviating precision in his phys- 
ical system, in his social relations, and in his moral and 
spiritual connections, to the world without, and to the 
world within him. These laws require the individual 
to be harmonious in his physical organization, harmo- 
nious in his social system, and in his mind. Indeed, a 
perfectly healthy body, and situation, and mind, are 
absolutely demanded by the Holy Ghost, or Excellent 
Laws of our being. Inasmuch as we are governed by, 
and are only happy and harmonious when obeying, the 
'principles of our entire existence, it is plain that any 
deviation from tliem would result in discord and nnhap- 
piness, to an extent always proportionate to the extent 
of the deviation ; and let it be fully and indelibly im- 
pressed upon the mind, that there is no possible way of 
escaping the legitimate and entire consequences of any 
infringement upon the operation of these Natural or 
Divine Laws. If you violate the laws of digestion, of 
gravitation, of reproduction, of locomotion, or of any of 



THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. 67 

the functions of the body or mind, or any of the nat- 
ural relations which subsist between individuals in soci- 
ety, you will receive the legitimate consequences of your 
violation, and there is no other atonement. 

The answer to the question under consideration 
naturally comes in at this point. It is this : 

An infringement upon the operation of Nature's 
Laws cannot be forgiven, but must be settled by the 
individual's suffering the consequences of the infringe- 
ment. In other words, a sin against the Holy G-host, or 
against Natural Laws, cannot be forgiven — cannot be 
pardoned — cannot be mitigated — cannot be augmented, 
but must be settled by a full and complete experience 
of consequences, according to the nature and extent of 
the sin. 

It may be supposed that an individual is punished, 
not according to what he has done, but according to 
what he intended to do. If this opinion is entertained 
with reference to the commission of the unpardonable 
sin, and in justification of the eternal punishment of 
the individual who commits it, then I would refer such 
a believer, for a full refutation of his opinion, to those 
laws by which we are unerringly governed. If an 
individual intends to burn his whole body, and only 
burns a linger, he does not suffer for what he intended 
to do, but for what he did do, to his physical system. 



68 PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

Should an individual intend to murder a neighborhood, 
but, failing to accomplish his original design, only 
causes the death of one person, then he does not suffer 
for what he did, but for what he inwardly believes, or 
feels, to be the intrinsic evil of -his intentions. The 
deed which would make a civilized man unhappy, 
would render an Indian joyful. A man is punished by 
the physical laws for what he does, and by the moral 
laws, for what he conceives to be the real wickedness 
of his intentions. But when the wicked intention 
ceases to inhabit the chambers of the mind, then the 
individual is no longer committing sin, and is, conse- 
quently, no longer punished. The punishments conse- 
quent upon evil intentions are exclusively experienced 
by the individual intending evil ; and the causes of his 
suffering are to be found in those inordinate desires or 
actions which generate discord in his inharmonious 
nature. Thus, anything which produces discord in the 
physical, or social, or moral systems of our being, will 
cause us to suffer a physical, social, or moral punish- 
ment, and such punishment is always in proportion to 
the extent and character of the disturbance produced. 
But, inasmuch as the primary causes of these disturb- 
ances are hereditary, educational, and circumstantial, it 
therefore follows that when these causes cease to exist, 
these disturbances will also cease to exist ; and hence 



TITE SIN AGArNST THE nOLY GIIOST. CD 

there will not be a perpetuation of effects or punish- 
ments throughout the length and breadth of eternity, 
as clergymen generally affirm. Kow what it is well to 
believe is, that every infringement upon the physical or 
moral laws of our being will be followed by its appro- 
priate consequences — and from them, there is no escape. 
Therefore, such infringements are sins against the Holy 
Ghost, and should every Christian in existence be exe- 
cuted upon a cross, it would not lessen a single pang, or 
save the individual from the legitimate effects of such 
righteous and efficient causes. 



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